FORT BRAGG, N.C. - Paratroopers, friends and families witnessed the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division colors pass to Col. Joseph A. Ryan during an assumption of command ceremony at Pike Field on Fort Bragg, June 12.
The ceremony formally marked Ryan’s accession as commander of the Falcon Brigade.
“Under the leadership of Col. Joe Ryan, the (325th Airborne Infantry Regiment) is going to take this to the next level,” said Maj. Gen. John W. Nicholson Jr., commander of the 82nd Airborne Division. “Known throughout our Army as an exceptional warrior ... with extensive combat experience, and service with the 82nd, 101st and 75th Ranger Regiment, (Ryan) brings a deep understanding of high readiness, rapid deployment, forcible entry, and all of the mission-essential tasks of the Global Response Force.”
Ryan is a native of Pearl River, New York. He graduated from the United States Military Academy and began his military career as an 82nd Airborne Division paratrooper with the 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment in 1992. Ryan is a graduate of the Infantry Officer’s Basic and Advanced Courses, the Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, and the Army War College where he most recently served as a fellow at Columbia University in New York. He holds a master’s degree in business management from Webster University. He has served on several deployments to both Iraq and Afghanistan.
“Commanding this brigade combat team is an awesome responsibility that I take very seriously,” said Ryan. “We are training to prepare for the next war whenever we are called. We should be proud of all we have accomplished but never satisfied, because our nation requires that we remain ready above all things.”
Ryan will lead the brigade through another rotation of the Global Response Force mission beginning later this year.